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Drake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor, rapper and singer. He is known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the physically disabled character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. As a rapper, Graham uses the stage name Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince.1 After rumors of signing with Young Money Entertainment, it was later confirmed that Drake is only affiliated with the label, and has officially signed with Interscope Records. He is managed by Hip Hop Since 1978. Early life Graham was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, a drummer who worked with Jerry Lee Lewis; his uncle is musician Teenie Hodges.2 His father is African American (a native of Memphis, Tennessee) and his mother is a white Jewish Canadian.345 His parents divorced when he was five, and he was raised by his mother in Toronto's wealthy Forest Hill neighborhood,6 attending elementary school at Forest Hill Public School, and high school at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute, where he began acting.4 He also spent many summers with his father in Memphis.36 Career Since 2001, Graham has played Jimmy Brooks, the student who was injured in a school shooting at Degrassi Community School, making him the first main character with a physical disability on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He also appeared in the film Charlie Bartlett, co-starring Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey, Jr., which was released on February 22, 2008. As a rapper, Graham has three self-published mixtapes, Room for Improvement, Comeback Season and So Far Gone, under the stage name Drake.7 Room for Improvement was produced by DJ Smallz. He shot a video for his debut single "Replacement Girl" which features R&B singer Trey Songz.89 He also made a cameo appearance in Trey Songz's "Wonder Woman" video. Graham also has an independent record label called October's Very Own, and refers to the collective of friends he works with All Things Fresh. ATF consists of T-Slack, Niko, Addy, Junia-T, Rich Kidd, Oliver, Jazz Cartier, Photo Will, Future the Prince, Boi-1da, Azuka, Shown, 40/40, D-10, P-Reign, Reps Up, JD Era, and many more. They are a part of the imprint Hearfelt Music/Wise Guy Music & October's Very Own. The whole crew comes from Toronto and many of them have ventured off into their own realm of music but still have that affiliation.10 During the process of recording and writing for both mixtapes, Drake also worked with a fair amount of artists like Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Bun B, Kid-Kid, Colin Munroe, Voyce,and has written with/for Jazz Cartier and Dr. Dre. Trey Songz was featured on all three mixtapes, and Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke worked on Comeback Season. Drake has been working with Lil Wayne in 2008 releasing songs such as "Ransom", "I Want This Forever", "Stunt Hard", "Stuntin", "I Can Take Your Girl", "Man Of The Year", "Brand New (Remix)", "Successful", and "Every Girl". Drake was featured on the new single by Colin Munroe, "Cannon Ball". Drake released a new mixtape on February 13 entitled So Far Gone. The mixtape includes Production from Octobers Very Own imprint and also contains eighteen tracks, featuring the artists Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, Peter Bjorn & John, Lloyd, Lykke Li, Santogold, Bun B, and Omarion11 Drake had a release party for the release of the mixtape. LeBron James, one of his friends, hosted the event.12 Drake is in the beginning stages of recording his major label debut, tentatively titled Thank Me Later, which is projected to be released in early 2009. The album is slated to include guest appearances by Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Danny!, Chris Brown and others. Interscope & Columbia/Music World Records has confirmed that Drake will collaborate with R&B and pop vocalist Michelle Williams on the song "Hungover", on the deluxe version of her album Unexpected, due for a spring 2009 release. Drake makes a guest appearace in Chrisette Michele's video for "Epiphany" playing her boyfriend. He also makes an appearance in the video of Trey Songz' single "Brand New". Category:Actors